The leadership activities and speeches are on a variety of topics and are impromptu. This all happens on the second last day. The final day(Friday) is the OSB. :ok:

Cheers

Chris

Thanks CJ. You are cleared direct to the outer marker, cancel speed below 10,000.:ok:

I take it, they give you the topics?

When you say OSB, thats the grilling by the panel (chairman, instructor and psyche etc)?

I went through all this as a military ATC wannabe but it was so long ago, Alan Border was the Test captain and England held the ashes then as well.

Yo, the topics are put to you and the OSB is the 'grilling' you so accurately described.

p.s. Steve Waugh was the greatest captain ever!! Aspiring ADF leaders could learn a lot from that man. Ponting would be cowering in the trenches!!

Cheers

Chris

Thank you sir.

Border, Taylor and Waugh were all fine leaders in their unique ways and styles. Ricky just doesn't cut it.

P.I.C.S.I.E (plan initiate control support inform evaluate) would be a bed mate for Ricky's garden gnome.

Cheers

Check PMs :ok:

Don't spoil all the fun cj! ;)

Track, experiences vary. I was never "grilled" but others were.

I've delivered some grilling at boards/interviews (Taylor was captain then) :E

Too many bullsh!t artists out there. And, quite frankly, if you can't cop some pressure in a suit and tie it doesn't bode well if things start failing as the tubes are flying around at 8 miles-a-minute.

@ Septerra

I'm also looking at these two locations for glider training, so I'd be curious to know how you go and which one you choose.

I wasn't able to find many other locations around Melbourne, but gliding is certainly going to be the way to go for me given a tight budget.

I just found http://www.lilydaleairport.com.au/ which has a section on gliding, the page looks pretty out of date though so I'm not sure if the prices are current etc.

Let me know how you go.

Cheers,

Anthony

I just recieved a call from my case manager and was told I had to have a 2nd non-pilot preference (I said aero engineer) and at my assessment day I will be asked about both. This is the first I've heard of the assessment day part. Has everyone else had to do this? And was it 50-50 on each in one interview, two separate interviews or one interview with most of the content on your first preference?

Thanks!
Sam

Hi there,

My board wasnt particularly grilling at all, (I walked out smiling and slightly confused, because I was smiling), relatively, after the very busy two weeks of flying about and spending your spare time doing your "secondary duty" (especially in the last few days, unless you get an easy one) it was a relief to do something you couldn't completely prepare for. They look at who you are, you can't go in there and say you have outstanding maturity and leadership levels if you don't. They want to see what kind of person you are, and if your the one they want to spend some serious money on.

As others have written:
HONESTY and INTEGRITY work well. Essentially that is what you need, and some confidence. Approach the group activities in a positive way. I enjoyed my board interview, which I did not expect.

Good Luck to everyone in the process.

@mudrat

Thanks for that bit of info mate. I am now a little relived that, I might yet be able to squeeze a satisfactory amount of flying time [hopefully solo] within the short period available to add weight to my file before its off to the PSA.

@ant

Certainly mate. Hopefully if things go as planned, I must be able to experience gliding the weekend after. I shall keep you informed about where I start and how it all goes, through PM's. Looks like we are in a similar situation. I haven't checked the link you posted yet, but should be able to once Im home.

@Shonfield

I gave my second preference as Army SSO Pilot and my first as RAAF. I am unsure why you were asked to mention a non pilot role as a second preference.

Shonfield,

I too was required to have a non-pilot preference for my third preference.

Although on assessment day I asked both the defence interviewer and psychologist to be only tested for my two pilot preferences (RAAF ADFA and RAAF DEO) which they allowed.

So if its something you don't really want to do but rather just to have a non pilot job down because it was requested of you, mention it to your defence interviewer and psychologist as soon as you start so you can just be assessed for pilot.

Lacho :)

G'day all,
Just to clear some things up,
@tony360, from a page or two ago, there is adfa specific testing, it usually occurs at the end of your testing at your YOU session.

@shonfield, your case manager is 100% wrong. You don't need a non pilot preference at all, you can have all 3 preferences as pilot options if you wish. You will be assessed on every preference you have down, but like as was mentioned you can opt out of assessing for a particular preference at the start of the interview. In that regard there is one interview, not 2 or 3 separate ones. If you opt out though and are not recommended, you will have to re sit the interview for the one you chose not to interview for the first time.. Make sense?

Anyone else in this boat should call their case managers and politely correct them.

Probably a question thats been previously answered but I've been out of the firm for over a decade.

If you pass the flying and leadership assessments but flunk the board what happens then? Can you re-apply?

I know a WGCDR that failed 3 boards but that was preFSP in the 1980s.

Raf A Joke!!
 

Firstly i would like to say to all those on here who are looking at a career in this field of the RAF........DONT BOTHER!! The whole outfit are a JOKE!! I've had the displeasure of being flown around the world by them for the past 22 years and can honestly say i've only ever flown on time twice without delays!!

I know that there are thousands that share this opinion having also being let down by this 'apparently' professional organisation! Even the RAF guys that i am currently serving with share my opinion! (Says it all really!)

Secondly if this was a civilian outfit they would have gone out of buisness years ago!! We are currently stuck in a location where it is costing over 10 grand a day in delays.......totally unacceptable in these unsteady times post SDSR!

Thirdly and lastly the RAF have too much of a good thing at times and therefore haven't got the 'Can Do' attitude, which is why no matter how much 'dripping' from others goes on things will never change! Surely it would be more cost effective to charter flights than pay for an organisation that is poor at timing, results and delivering what it says on the tin!

Ww7
You do know that this entire thread, who knows how many pages and posts is about the Royal AUSTRALIAN Airforce?
Granted over here is hardly the green grass on the other side of the fence.....

A tad jaded are we?
:hmm:

I am especially glad to be applying for the RAAF, and not the RAF...check this out:

Up to 100 pilots to be sacked as part of a $480m cost-cutting exercise | The Australian

@ Track:

I'm still waiting for a spot at flight screening but from what I understand there are 3 outcomes at the conclusion of OSB:

You are awarded a recommendation to enter service. Or...
You are handed a 'not yet recommended' i.e return in 12 months. This means that the board sees potential...but you're just not showing it. An applicant pilot can only ever complete the flying component of FSP once - and their score stands. Not sure how many times the board will bring you back though to OSB though...
Lastly - and of course, the least desired....not recommended to enter service.

I have heard many stories of applicants acing the flying component but flunking the board. You have to show a potential and willingness to LEARN, not show-off by exemplifying how much of an ace you think you are....because the instructors will see right through you.


@ lesnak:

Sorry to hear mate. I'm currently class 3R - temporarily unfit to continue, and have been so since November. I'd probably rather know now if I were to be transitioned to class 4, rather than post-FSP...shame you didn't get the courtesy. Best of luck with your appeals mate.

I'll echo most other people here and point out this is for the RAAF. That said, military transport doesn't have the same mentality as the airlines do. ALG isn't constrained by departure times (ideal world all times would be met) but safety and maintenance issues come first. Minimum equipment lists in the military are very stringent and the attitude is generally one of "If its broke, we might as well fix it and have a perfectly working aircraft." Where as the civil environment CFU's it and will pick it up later. Thats one example as to why military aircraft might depart late. There are a whole multitude of other reasons that I won't bother to list as I personally think that its obvious as to what the priorities are in the military.

Sure the RAAF can be painful at times, with organisational constraints putting sometimes unnecessary pressures on its people, but I, and nearly all I talk to (Maintenance, Aircrew, Support staff etc etc) wouldn't give this job up for anything. So what if you're a few hours late into Butterworth, Diego Garcia or a myriad of other countries/places... We'll all still get to have victory drinks at the end of the flight :ok:

So to the people going through the DFR process to become a pilot... Please ignore what was said (apart from it being about the RAF). Nothing beats going into another country, going out for drinks and then flying back. Having a blast whilst doing it. Pilot in the RAAF is probably the best job you can imagine... (at least if you're a boggie (even better a boggie copilot if you go multicrew)).

Hey everyone,

There were whispers of a round of DEO spots to come out at the start of this week. Did anyone have any luck or were those rumors unfounded?

Calls have been made informing applicants of their dossiers being sent to Canberra. The final word will be made on Wednesday as far as I'm aware...

I know of a candidate that went with zero hours except about 15mins at the controls of a 182 airborne. He got an excellent flight score (demonstrating his ability to learn fast), nailed the leadership but was not recommended because by not taking flying he demonstrated a lack of motivation. Total bollocks IMO. However he is not out of the pool for good I understand and its still game on ;).

I know an ex WGCDR that failed two boards and a serving LTCOL thats a close mate (we were JOs in the same op confines and of similar seniority at a couple of major exercises) that failed 3 boards (2 SSO and 1GSO).

TC

As I understand it, you get one go at FSP and hold that score. If you don't get through the initial OSB you can have up to another two goes 12 months apart.

I'm happy to be corrected but I think that's how my lad explained it. He was fortunate to get through on the first attempt, so I haven't taken a close interest in the re-test process.

To clarify, there are three different outcomes at the end of FSP:

1) You are recommended
2) You are not recommended, but are invited to retry OSB after a specified wait time (typically a year, sometimes longer).
3) You are not recommended by the board and are not welcome to reapply due to incompatibilities with the position of ADF pilot.

Having experienced the process personally, I have a lot faith in the current system and the people behind it. I don't know what the situation is with the bloke you mentioned TC, but I know of people that got an offer with no previous flying experience first time round. I also know of many that got an offer with a myriad of flying hobbies and flying licenses to their name; if you don't have any experience and you are not involved in any aviation-related activities, then that would surely cast doubt on just how interested you are.

Obviously there are guys with more insight and far more experience than myself here so I'll leave it there, but I always took my "failures" as an opportunity to improve and there's no shortage of constructive criticism to take with you from Tamworth!

@ Blackbird: Yes there were two distributions staggered over last week (RAAF, don't know about the others), but I don't think its Wednesday when the final word is given.

TC

Interested to know what your mates flying score was. Even more interested to know how he knew that he had nailed the leadership. Applicants that do very well at the flying side have to do poorly at the board side to not be recommended. A lot of people get through with no flying hours, so I think the lack of actual flying to prove motivation may not be on the numbers.

Mudrat is correct with the three outcomes of FSP but at the present time you can wait three years or if it has been three years come back and do the whole FSP again. Get in quick before this changes.

@ Mudrat - My enlistment coordinator in Melbourne told me that I would know by Wednesday as to whether or not I start on the 4th of March. I think they're cutting it fine as it is, less then 2 weeks to organise your life and work related issues is a tall order!

Welcome to the ADF ! :)

Yes I was very surprised (pleasantly!); I got my letter of offer for RAAF pilot today for the course starting on the 4th. Less than two weeks to drop life as I know it in order to embrace the next 12 years in the RAAF...its going to be great!

Edit: I say 12 years, yet fully intend to stay much longer than that!

Well done Mudrat, congrats. :ok:

G'day guys!
Wow! so awesome that you got in!!

I'v just passed my specialised testing for pilot with the ADF, so iv still got a long way to go.But the next step is the assessment interview next week and I was just wondering if any of you guys could tell me what sort of questions to expect and what answers there looking for. Iv done a bit of research but am just wondering if anyone who's done it recently could give me a heads up :). It'd be very nice to get to FSB! haha

Hope iv come to the right place and thanks heaps for taking the time to read this,
Gav

Mudrat, brilliant mate. So happy for you. You've come a long way, and this is only the beginning of your journey! :ok:

Well done Mudrat... Champion!!

If you are in Saudi you are maybe on Hawks or Tornadoes and my age (late 40s) and served in more rational regimes - a gen ago.

When He go told no probs with the flying; you met the mean; your leadership exercises and speech was fine, however...(I don't want to go into it here to out him).

I've been on assessment and OSB boards, just sh*t.

Thanks fellas! By the sound of things there will be several of us from this thread heading down, but no doubt I'll see the rest of you in the ADF further down the track sometime. Good luck!

Mudrat- Well done and good luck.:ok: Have fun on the mighty CT4 and keep your sense of humour, something that seems to have deserted Trackcoastal- :confused:

Remember, the staff are here to help!

Well done MudRat, I'll be seeing you down in Sale.

Blackbird, let me know as soon as you hear any news.

Cheers

Hey Guys,

Had my assessment day yesterday, all went well :):), with the exception of a medical issue that should be very quick (quick for the ADF anyway).

If anyone wants to ask me anything in regards to it, PM me now while I can remember. I know I had 100 questions before I went. I'm happy to help anyone out.

For the others that are still in school - I was told grades are more or less the number 1 thing they have to differentiate people prior to OSB, so keep them up! The defence interviewer implied that over 80 in all subjects should secure a spot on FSP. Not sure how much truth there is to that though, I would have expected higher.

For anyone that has an assessment day, please dear god wear a suit. There was a kid there in a hoodie and shorts. You should have seen the look on their faces.

For the people asking if the 2011 FSP schedule was up, it is now.

Lastly, the psychologist is death. Keep confident during that, she kept telling me I was wrong on areas I was positive about. She even tried to tell me BFTS wasn't at Tamworth..........

Congrats Shonfield!

I hope for your sake that your medical clears quickly. I was told that too - and I've had to send multiple reports back and forth to the medical administration since my assessment day last November. And it's still taking time. I sure hope my file reaches Tamworth in the next few months :sad:

Wish me luck!
 

Hi Guys, I'm a long time reader and not much of a poster, however I'm attending FSP on Saturday, starting Sunday. I'm very excited but very nervous! The main thing I will focus on is doing my best and keeping a sense of humour. I feel as though I've prepared well but you never never know until you finally go.
Anyway for all others out there that are still trying to get to FSP, keep at it, your determination and commitment will hopefully shine through and you will land a spot on FSP, then it's up to you to perform!

Wish me luck :D

Congratulations on your offer Nick, and congrats Shonfield for a successful Assessment day! Oldpinger - thanks, and I definitely will! Can't wait to fly the parrot again.

Shonfield, that psychologist session you got sounds like hell! Mine was more akin to a very casual chat, and I came away wondering what the all the fuss was about.

Good luck with the medical administration issues Zeddy. They can be frustratingly slow but it will all be worthwhile once you've got them sorted! :ok:

I have flight screening this Saturday, and I really want to fly chinooks! However I have heard they are only a 2nd term posting, is this true?? If so how come and where do they do their conversion course?

Btw GSX are you on the 05mar course?

I am on the 05 March course!

Check your PMs :)